Global sports superstars, including David Beckham, Rio Ferdinand, and Novak Djokovic, were joined by American actor Jessica Alba and the English Victoria’s Secret model Rosie Huntington-Whiteley for the official unveiling of the new Qatar Airways special Formula 1 paint scheme.
The bold burgundy and dark grey livery was designed by the American record producer, rapper, and DJ Kasseem Dean, who goes by the name of Swizz Beatz, to commemorate the airline’s multi-million-dollar global sponsorship of Formula 1.
Qatar Airways flew over the celebs for a star-studded event on the sidelines of the Qatar Grand Prix, which saw Max Verstappen win for Red Bull at the weekend.
As well as showing off the Boeing 777-300 on the tarmac at Doha International Airport, the airline also arranged a special low-altitude flyover of the Lusail circuit.
Qatar Airways also had American comedian Kevin Hart (who also stars in the airline’s current safety video) make a special entrance for the official unveiling, dressed up as an F1 driver and pretending to perform celebratory ‘doughnuts.’
Jessica Alba, who, like the other celebs in attendance, is paid by Qatar Airways, gushed in a post on Instagram to her 21 million followers about her experience of being flown to Doha in one of the airline’s luxe QSuite Business Class seats.
Celebs have faced criticism of their paid sponsorship work with Qatar, especially David Beckham, who was forced to defend his long-running connection with the tiny but incredibly wealthy Persian Gulf country.
In 2022, Beckham addressed concerns about his work with Qatar in the lead-up to the soccer World Cup being held in the country, saying that he “believed that sport has the power to be a force for good in the world.”
Qatar Airways managed to snatch the global sponsorship rights to Formula 1 from arch-rival Emirates in 2023, in what is believed to have been a $50 million deal for a five-year agreement running until the end of 2027.
Emirates is believed to have paid around $25 million for the rights to sponsor Formula 1 but Liberty Media Corporation, which owns the sport, had allegedly demanded double that amount when the contract came up for renewal.
In recent years, Qatar Airways has attempted to challenge Emirates’ massive sports sponsorship portfolio, becoming the global airline partner of FIFA since 2017, and sponsoring the likes of Paris Saint-Germain, the Brooklyn Nets, and FC Internazionale Milano.
The partnership with Grammy Award-winning Swizz Beatz extends to a cultural collaboration known as the Qatar Airways Creative 100.
In October, the airline said that the “first expression of creativity” of this collaboration was the special Formula 1 livery which adorns one of its Boeing 777-300 jets.
Ahead of the FIFA World Cup 2026, the airline is also expected to unveil another bold livery to mark the event, although no further details have yet been released.
The Formula 1 airplane is set to visit London, Melbourne, New York JFK, and Tokyo in the coming weeks. It can be tracked on flight tracking websites like Flight Radar 24 by using the aircraft registration: A7-BEG.
